Siempre Hay Algo Más - Chapter 2 (Part 1)
Title: Siempre Hay Algo Más
Rating: R
Pairing: Pepa/Silvia
A/N: I know, I know...it's been forever since I've updated anything. Forgive me. :-( But, I had the day off today, and the Zero magazine photos proved to be quite the successful impetus to get me writing. Sooo, here's the first part of this next chapter. I'm actually not sure if I like how this one turned out, but oh well, I hope y'all like it anyway.
Chapter 2
“You remember the plan, right?”
“Yes, yes…when you excuse yourself to go the restroom, I pretend to get a page from the hospital…”
“Mmhmm, and when I get back you say I have to give you a ride …and we’ll make our escape to go meet the girls at the bar,” the tall brunette concludes, feeling the need to explain the ‘plan’ for the third time.
“Pepa, I may not be a cop, but I think I can handle the logistics of this particular ‘covert operation’,” the shorter brunette retorted, unable to stop the accompanying eye roll.
“Vaaale, Eva. I just don’t want to be stuck here any longer than we have to be.”
“I know, I know…but the sooner we get inside, the sooner we can leave…so let’s go already,” Eva stated, lightly shoving her friend forward.
They made their way through the front door of Los Cachis, and once inside, they were met by the sight of a room decorated with balloons and streamers and filled with officers from the San Antonio precinct. People were milling all around, having drinks and tapas at the bar or simply chatting in scattered groups. The two women started greeting the other guests as they walked further into the bar, Pepa saying hello to her co-workers and making introductions for her friend.
A long table had been set up in the middle of the room, a few platters of delicious smelling foods lying on top, and at the end of the table was a large, rectangular birthday cake. Each end of the cake was decorated with a black pistol made of icing, and in the center, a badge shape had been outlined with yellow icing, the words “Feliz Cumpleaños” written inside the borders.
“But, Lola…I’m not five years old! Next you’re going to tell me there’s going to be a magic show! Or a fucking pony!” The comisario exclaimed in obvious displeasure of the cake. “Is that it? Is there going to be a pony to give everyone a fucking pony ride?!”
“Ya, Papa. It’s just a cake,” Lola calmly replied as she brought out another platter to lay out on the table. “If you hate it so much, you don’t have to have a piece.”
“Well, I never said I didn’t want a piece…”
“Good. Then stop complaining about it.” Don Lorenzo’s shoulders dropped as he was limited to huffing angrily in reply.
Silvia, who was sitting on a stool nearby, couldn’t help but snicker at how deftly her older sister handled her father’s tirade. She knew that for all his bluster, she and Lola were his only soft spots…and they could both take the wind out of his sails like no one else in the world could, as Lola just demonstrated.
It was an hour into the party, and Silvia was already feeling a little tipsy. Still laughing at the exchange she just witnessed, she lifted her half-filled glass of wine to take another sip, her eyes roving around Los Cachis as she did.
And then her eyes stopped.
On her.
And whatever good buzz she had acquired was lost.
I was hoping she wasn’t going to show. Joder! The redhead thought to herself as she slugged back the rest of her wine. An hour late, surprise, surprise…and did she bring a date?! She watched as the women made their slow progression towards her end of the room. They stopped to greet Lola along the way before reaching the Birthday Man himself.
“Feliz Cumpleaños, Don Lorenzo!” Pepa cheerfully shouted, flinging her arms out as though indicating she wanted to give him a hug.
Don Lorenzo, never in the mood for her games, spat out a few choice words under his breath - “despotenciada” being the only one that was audible - and quickly shuffled away, shaking his head in disgust.
“So, that was the infamous Don Lorenzo?” Eva asked.
“Yeah…you can tell how much he really loves me, no?” Pepa wrapped one of her outstretched arms around her friend’s shoulder to give it a squeeze and then let it drop back to her side.
“Sure, something like that...”
“He just doesn’t want to admit it.”
Pepa then turned around to face the redhead who was sitting nearby and watching the scene with a scowl on her face.
“And what do we have here? Another Castro who won’t admit they really love me…hola, guapa!” Pepa greeted in mock enthusiasm, as usual.
Silvia’s scowl, almost unbelievably, grew deeper. “I didn’t think you were invited.”
“I’m so happy to see you, too, pelirroja!” Pepa winked but quickly dropped the façade to honestly reply, “Unfortunately for you, the whole department was invited.”
Silvia let out a frustrated sigh, trying to think of a way to excuse herself. Just as she getting up to say she was going to get another glass of wine, the woman standing next to Pepa chose to introduce herself.
“Hi, I’m Eva…a friend of Pepa’s,” she said, stretching out her hand to grasp Silvia’s. Trying to not be rude to this woman she’s just barely met - a friend, not a date then? - she leaned in to give her two kisses.
“Lovely company you keep,” she felt the words slip past her lips. Oh well, so much for not being rude.
“Oh, this one here,” Eva said, gently smacking Pepa on the stomach with the back of her hand, “she can be an oaf sometimes, but she’s really a sweetheart under the gruff exterior.” Pepa responded with a scowl that nearly matched the one Silvia was sporting.
“A real sweetheart, I’m sure,” the redhead mumbled.
“Can you ladies help me bring out some more platters?” Lola asked as she hurriedly exited the kitchen, unknowingly breaking up the tense situation.
The women agreed, but as they began to follow Lola back into the kitchen, someone hollered “Pepa!” from across the room.
The woman reacted to her name, spinning around to ascertain who had called her. She quickly localized the source and saw Curtis, standing with Kike and Povedilla, waving her over. “We need your expertise over here!”
Just as she was about to tell them to wait a minute, Lola chimed in. “It’s okay, Pepa…I should be able to manage with four extra hands.”
“You sure?”
“Yes,” Lola nodded. “Now go see what they need before they start any trouble.”
Silvia and Eva continued on after Lola while the other woman diverted her path to go see what the Three Stooges wanted.
Pepa spent a good thirty minutes talking to the guys, and during that time, Eva and Silvia helped Lola and actually got to chatting. During their conversation, Silvia discovered that Eva really was just a friend of Pepa’s - not a date - and that she was a doctor who worked at the hospital. Eva, for her part, could hardly believe that this was the same redhead Pepa had been carping about since she had first met her two years ago. With the way Pepa had described her, she had expected some redheaded hag of a woman, fire spewing from her mouth with every word she uttered.
Redhead, yes. Fire-breathing hag…not so much.
In fact, Eva thought she was downright beautiful…and she wasted no time flirting with the other woman. Much to her elated surprise, Silvia was actually flirting back.
You know…she’s actually a lot smarter than I would’ve guessed any of Pepa’s friends would be, and she’s certainly attractive…annnd she’s definitely flirting with me. It’s been a while since anyone’s flirted with me, or since I’ve felt inclined to flirt back…God, it’s been months since Claudia and I broke up. Maybe this is just what I need. Something light, something casual…and then there’s the added bonus of having something to rub in Pepa’s face.
This last thought caused Silvia’s smile to grow even wider and, coyishly, she leaned in closer to hear what Eva was trying to say to her.
When Pepa was finally able to extricate herself from the group, she made her way back to the bar where her friend was still talking and laughing with the redhead…and she was none too thrilled at the sight.
Did she just stroke Silvia’s arm? Jesus Christ…I turn around for a minute and she’s already putting on the moves.
She plastered a fake smile on her face as she approached. “Sorry for leaving you alone…the guys wanted to know what I thought about blasting a door open with a shotgun like they do in the movies. It turned into a big argument.”
“No need to apologize. I’ve been having a lovely conversation with Silvia here,” Eva replied, turning to give the redhead seated next to her a smile.
“Uh huh…I can see that,” Pepa said looking a little miffed. “Well, I’m going to go the restroom, and I’ll be back in a minute, vale?”
“Vale.” And with that confirmation, she headed to the restroom to wait for Eva to carry out her part of the plan.
A short while later, she returned from ‘using the restroom’ to find her friend still deep in conversation with Silvia. And still flirting, she was quick to note. Perplexed, she walked up to the duo, waiting for Eva to announce that she needed to get to the hospital right away.
But nothing was forthcoming.
The two women carried on conversing, not even noticing Pepa’s presence as she stood by.
“Eva…”
“Oh, Pepa…”
Ah, there it is, time to get the hell out of here.
“…the guys over there were calling for you again.”
Uhm, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the plan.
Pepa wasn’t quite sure how to respond. With a look of confusion on her face, her mouth humorously opened and shut a few times, not knowing what she was supposed to say now that Eva had basically gone off script.
Eva simply smiled and pointed in the direction of the men who at that moment realized Pepa had returned.
“Pepa! Over here!”
Eva continued to smile at her innocently, “You should go see what they need.”
And then Pepa finally realized that Eva, contrary to the plan, had no intention of leaving any time soon. Not knowing how to cleverly get herself out of the situation, though, she shot her friend a nasty look and walked off to go see what the guys wanted.
The party continued on in typical San Antonio style…drinking, laughing, and a few of the guests who had hit the punch bowl particularly hard had started dancing. Pepa spent a good hour discussing various inane subjects with the guys, but her eyes routinely returned to the corner where Eva and Silvia were still talking.
Oooh, she’s going to get it. I’m gonna kick her ass for this…we were supposed to be at the bar an hour ago! And…flirting with Silvia? For Christ’s sake. I don’t know how many times I’ve told her what an uptight bitch Silvia is…and there she is flirting with her anyway! She’s a fucking idiot, that’s what she is. An idiot that’s going to get her ass kicked as soon as we finally get out of here…
“Pepa! Pepa!”
“What? What is it, Kike?” Pepa snapped back.
“You spaced out for a second.”
“I think she’s probably worried about her friend over there,” Povedilla, being the only one who realized they were monopolizing all of Pepa’s time, cut in.
“Your friend looks like she’s doing juuust fine sitting over there with Silvia,” Curtis added in a knowing tone of voice. He opened his mouth to add another comment, but one glare from Pepa told him it’d be smarter to keep it keep his mouth shut.
“I’m going to go see how she’s doing.”
Pepa took determined steps to the same spot where Eva and Silvia had been sitting all night. “Eva, I think it’s about time we head out. We’re already running late to meet everyone.”
The plan had been completely shot to hell, so she was just going to go with the direct approach now.
Acknowledging that her friend looked a little beyond rankled by now, Eva decided against arguing and agreed that it was time to go. She rose from her seat and turned to kiss the redhead goodbye. “So, I’ll give you a call soon then…”
“Vale,” Silvia responded, blushing just the tiniest bit and tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
Pepa’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Wait, wait, wait…what just happened here? Ohhh, I’m not just going to kick her ass, I’m going to kill her.
Pepa didn’t even bother saying goodbye to Silvia, she just turned and started walking towards the front door, only stopping to say goodbye to Paco and Lola on her way out.
Eva was quick to follow behind her, and once outside, she jogged to catch up to her taller friend.
“Remind me to never ask you for help ever again.”
“Ahh, Pepa don’t be mad! Once we got inside, I had to reassess the situation…and I started up a ‘covert operation’ of my own.”
“You’re not allowed to do that. A plan is a fucking plan.”
“Yeah, but I succeeded at my goal for the night!”
Pepa cocked an eyebrow, awaiting further explanation.
“I got her number!” Eva exclaimed, a skip in her step.
“Joder…you’re even worse than I am. How many times have I told you what a bitch she is?!”
“Hmm, a couple thousand. But you failed to mention that she was also gorgeous.”
“What does it matter if she’s gorgeous? She’s the goddamn ice queen!”
“Buuuut she’s gorgeous…anyway, she seemed quite nice when I was talking to her. Smart, funny. Not at all like how you painted her out to be.”
“You just don’t know her yet.”
“Nope, I don’t…not yet anyway,” her friend added with a waggle of her eyebrows.
“You’re fucking hopeless.”
“Ahh, is someone jealous?”
“Of you?! Of you with Silvia?!” Pepa scoffed. “Please, I’d rather be thrown in a pit of snakes than have to spend time alone with that woman.”
“If you're not jealous, then why are you angry? And slow down, Stretch, you’re walking too fast!”
Pepa slowed her pace, and after a few seconds of silence, she spoke up again, “Have I told you before that I hate you?”
“Hmm, a couple thousand times.”
“Well, good, I’m glad you’re aware.”
“…Still think you sound jealous.”
“I’m not fucking jealous! Now get in the car and shut up.”
Rating: R
Pairing: Pepa/Silvia
A/N: I know, I know...it's been forever since I've updated anything. Forgive me. :-( But, I had the day off today, and the Zero magazine photos proved to be quite the successful impetus to get me writing. Sooo, here's the first part of this next chapter. I'm actually not sure if I like how this one turned out, but oh well, I hope y'all like it anyway.
Chapter 2
“You remember the plan, right?”
“Yes, yes…when you excuse yourself to go the restroom, I pretend to get a page from the hospital…”
“Mmhmm, and when I get back you say I have to give you a ride …and we’ll make our escape to go meet the girls at the bar,” the tall brunette concludes, feeling the need to explain the ‘plan’ for the third time.
“Pepa, I may not be a cop, but I think I can handle the logistics of this particular ‘covert operation’,” the shorter brunette retorted, unable to stop the accompanying eye roll.
“Vaaale, Eva. I just don’t want to be stuck here any longer than we have to be.”
“I know, I know…but the sooner we get inside, the sooner we can leave…so let’s go already,” Eva stated, lightly shoving her friend forward.
They made their way through the front door of Los Cachis, and once inside, they were met by the sight of a room decorated with balloons and streamers and filled with officers from the San Antonio precinct. People were milling all around, having drinks and tapas at the bar or simply chatting in scattered groups. The two women started greeting the other guests as they walked further into the bar, Pepa saying hello to her co-workers and making introductions for her friend.
A long table had been set up in the middle of the room, a few platters of delicious smelling foods lying on top, and at the end of the table was a large, rectangular birthday cake. Each end of the cake was decorated with a black pistol made of icing, and in the center, a badge shape had been outlined with yellow icing, the words “Feliz Cumpleaños” written inside the borders.
“But, Lola…I’m not five years old! Next you’re going to tell me there’s going to be a magic show! Or a fucking pony!” The comisario exclaimed in obvious displeasure of the cake. “Is that it? Is there going to be a pony to give everyone a fucking pony ride?!”
“Ya, Papa. It’s just a cake,” Lola calmly replied as she brought out another platter to lay out on the table. “If you hate it so much, you don’t have to have a piece.”
“Well, I never said I didn’t want a piece…”
“Good. Then stop complaining about it.” Don Lorenzo’s shoulders dropped as he was limited to huffing angrily in reply.
Silvia, who was sitting on a stool nearby, couldn’t help but snicker at how deftly her older sister handled her father’s tirade. She knew that for all his bluster, she and Lola were his only soft spots…and they could both take the wind out of his sails like no one else in the world could, as Lola just demonstrated.
It was an hour into the party, and Silvia was already feeling a little tipsy. Still laughing at the exchange she just witnessed, she lifted her half-filled glass of wine to take another sip, her eyes roving around Los Cachis as she did.
And then her eyes stopped.
On her.
And whatever good buzz she had acquired was lost.
I was hoping she wasn’t going to show. Joder! The redhead thought to herself as she slugged back the rest of her wine. An hour late, surprise, surprise…and did she bring a date?! She watched as the women made their slow progression towards her end of the room. They stopped to greet Lola along the way before reaching the Birthday Man himself.
“Feliz Cumpleaños, Don Lorenzo!” Pepa cheerfully shouted, flinging her arms out as though indicating she wanted to give him a hug.
Don Lorenzo, never in the mood for her games, spat out a few choice words under his breath - “despotenciada” being the only one that was audible - and quickly shuffled away, shaking his head in disgust.
“So, that was the infamous Don Lorenzo?” Eva asked.
“Yeah…you can tell how much he really loves me, no?” Pepa wrapped one of her outstretched arms around her friend’s shoulder to give it a squeeze and then let it drop back to her side.
“Sure, something like that...”
“He just doesn’t want to admit it.”
Pepa then turned around to face the redhead who was sitting nearby and watching the scene with a scowl on her face.
“And what do we have here? Another Castro who won’t admit they really love me…hola, guapa!” Pepa greeted in mock enthusiasm, as usual.
Silvia’s scowl, almost unbelievably, grew deeper. “I didn’t think you were invited.”
“I’m so happy to see you, too, pelirroja!” Pepa winked but quickly dropped the façade to honestly reply, “Unfortunately for you, the whole department was invited.”
Silvia let out a frustrated sigh, trying to think of a way to excuse herself. Just as she getting up to say she was going to get another glass of wine, the woman standing next to Pepa chose to introduce herself.
“Hi, I’m Eva…a friend of Pepa’s,” she said, stretching out her hand to grasp Silvia’s. Trying to not be rude to this woman she’s just barely met - a friend, not a date then? - she leaned in to give her two kisses.
“Lovely company you keep,” she felt the words slip past her lips. Oh well, so much for not being rude.
“Oh, this one here,” Eva said, gently smacking Pepa on the stomach with the back of her hand, “she can be an oaf sometimes, but she’s really a sweetheart under the gruff exterior.” Pepa responded with a scowl that nearly matched the one Silvia was sporting.
“A real sweetheart, I’m sure,” the redhead mumbled.
“Can you ladies help me bring out some more platters?” Lola asked as she hurriedly exited the kitchen, unknowingly breaking up the tense situation.
The women agreed, but as they began to follow Lola back into the kitchen, someone hollered “Pepa!” from across the room.
The woman reacted to her name, spinning around to ascertain who had called her. She quickly localized the source and saw Curtis, standing with Kike and Povedilla, waving her over. “We need your expertise over here!”
Just as she was about to tell them to wait a minute, Lola chimed in. “It’s okay, Pepa…I should be able to manage with four extra hands.”
“You sure?”
“Yes,” Lola nodded. “Now go see what they need before they start any trouble.”
Silvia and Eva continued on after Lola while the other woman diverted her path to go see what the Three Stooges wanted.
Pepa spent a good thirty minutes talking to the guys, and during that time, Eva and Silvia helped Lola and actually got to chatting. During their conversation, Silvia discovered that Eva really was just a friend of Pepa’s - not a date - and that she was a doctor who worked at the hospital. Eva, for her part, could hardly believe that this was the same redhead Pepa had been carping about since she had first met her two years ago. With the way Pepa had described her, she had expected some redheaded hag of a woman, fire spewing from her mouth with every word she uttered.
Redhead, yes. Fire-breathing hag…not so much.
In fact, Eva thought she was downright beautiful…and she wasted no time flirting with the other woman. Much to her elated surprise, Silvia was actually flirting back.
You know…she’s actually a lot smarter than I would’ve guessed any of Pepa’s friends would be, and she’s certainly attractive…annnd she’s definitely flirting with me. It’s been a while since anyone’s flirted with me, or since I’ve felt inclined to flirt back…God, it’s been months since Claudia and I broke up. Maybe this is just what I need. Something light, something casual…and then there’s the added bonus of having something to rub in Pepa’s face.
This last thought caused Silvia’s smile to grow even wider and, coyishly, she leaned in closer to hear what Eva was trying to say to her.
When Pepa was finally able to extricate herself from the group, she made her way back to the bar where her friend was still talking and laughing with the redhead…and she was none too thrilled at the sight.
Did she just stroke Silvia’s arm? Jesus Christ…I turn around for a minute and she’s already putting on the moves.
She plastered a fake smile on her face as she approached. “Sorry for leaving you alone…the guys wanted to know what I thought about blasting a door open with a shotgun like they do in the movies. It turned into a big argument.”
“No need to apologize. I’ve been having a lovely conversation with Silvia here,” Eva replied, turning to give the redhead seated next to her a smile.
“Uh huh…I can see that,” Pepa said looking a little miffed. “Well, I’m going to go the restroom, and I’ll be back in a minute, vale?”
“Vale.” And with that confirmation, she headed to the restroom to wait for Eva to carry out her part of the plan.
A short while later, she returned from ‘using the restroom’ to find her friend still deep in conversation with Silvia. And still flirting, she was quick to note. Perplexed, she walked up to the duo, waiting for Eva to announce that she needed to get to the hospital right away.
But nothing was forthcoming.
The two women carried on conversing, not even noticing Pepa’s presence as she stood by.
“Eva…”
“Oh, Pepa…”
Ah, there it is, time to get the hell out of here.
“…the guys over there were calling for you again.”
Uhm, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the plan.
Pepa wasn’t quite sure how to respond. With a look of confusion on her face, her mouth humorously opened and shut a few times, not knowing what she was supposed to say now that Eva had basically gone off script.
Eva simply smiled and pointed in the direction of the men who at that moment realized Pepa had returned.
“Pepa! Over here!”
Eva continued to smile at her innocently, “You should go see what they need.”
And then Pepa finally realized that Eva, contrary to the plan, had no intention of leaving any time soon. Not knowing how to cleverly get herself out of the situation, though, she shot her friend a nasty look and walked off to go see what the guys wanted.
The party continued on in typical San Antonio style…drinking, laughing, and a few of the guests who had hit the punch bowl particularly hard had started dancing. Pepa spent a good hour discussing various inane subjects with the guys, but her eyes routinely returned to the corner where Eva and Silvia were still talking.
Oooh, she’s going to get it. I’m gonna kick her ass for this…we were supposed to be at the bar an hour ago! And…flirting with Silvia? For Christ’s sake. I don’t know how many times I’ve told her what an uptight bitch Silvia is…and there she is flirting with her anyway! She’s a fucking idiot, that’s what she is. An idiot that’s going to get her ass kicked as soon as we finally get out of here…
“Pepa! Pepa!”
“What? What is it, Kike?” Pepa snapped back.
“You spaced out for a second.”
“I think she’s probably worried about her friend over there,” Povedilla, being the only one who realized they were monopolizing all of Pepa’s time, cut in.
“Your friend looks like she’s doing juuust fine sitting over there with Silvia,” Curtis added in a knowing tone of voice. He opened his mouth to add another comment, but one glare from Pepa told him it’d be smarter to keep it keep his mouth shut.
“I’m going to go see how she’s doing.”
Pepa took determined steps to the same spot where Eva and Silvia had been sitting all night. “Eva, I think it’s about time we head out. We’re already running late to meet everyone.”
The plan had been completely shot to hell, so she was just going to go with the direct approach now.
Acknowledging that her friend looked a little beyond rankled by now, Eva decided against arguing and agreed that it was time to go. She rose from her seat and turned to kiss the redhead goodbye. “So, I’ll give you a call soon then…”
“Vale,” Silvia responded, blushing just the tiniest bit and tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
Pepa’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Wait, wait, wait…what just happened here? Ohhh, I’m not just going to kick her ass, I’m going to kill her.
Pepa didn’t even bother saying goodbye to Silvia, she just turned and started walking towards the front door, only stopping to say goodbye to Paco and Lola on her way out.
Eva was quick to follow behind her, and once outside, she jogged to catch up to her taller friend.
“Remind me to never ask you for help ever again.”
“Ahh, Pepa don’t be mad! Once we got inside, I had to reassess the situation…and I started up a ‘covert operation’ of my own.”
“You’re not allowed to do that. A plan is a fucking plan.”
“Yeah, but I succeeded at my goal for the night!”
Pepa cocked an eyebrow, awaiting further explanation.
“I got her number!” Eva exclaimed, a skip in her step.
“Joder…you’re even worse than I am. How many times have I told you what a bitch she is?!”
“Hmm, a couple thousand. But you failed to mention that she was also gorgeous.”
“What does it matter if she’s gorgeous? She’s the goddamn ice queen!”
“Buuuut she’s gorgeous…anyway, she seemed quite nice when I was talking to her. Smart, funny. Not at all like how you painted her out to be.”
“You just don’t know her yet.”
“Nope, I don’t…not yet anyway,” her friend added with a waggle of her eyebrows.
“You’re fucking hopeless.”
“Ahh, is someone jealous?”
“Of you?! Of you with Silvia?!” Pepa scoffed. “Please, I’d rather be thrown in a pit of snakes than have to spend time alone with that woman.”
“If you're not jealous, then why are you angry? And slow down, Stretch, you’re walking too fast!”
Pepa slowed her pace, and after a few seconds of silence, she spoke up again, “Have I told you before that I hate you?”
“Hmm, a couple thousand times.”
“Well, good, I’m glad you’re aware.”
“…Still think you sound jealous.”
“I’m not fucking jealous! Now get in the car and shut up.”